Updated 10/16/2019 11:00 am to include further information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection
BLAINE, Wash. — A British couple who were visiting Vancouver with their children earlier this month say they’ve been inhumanely treated after they were detained for inadvertently crossing the border into Whatcom County.
David and Eileen Connors tell the Philadelphia Inquirer that a relative was driving near the border when he swerved to avoid an animal in the road and their vehicle ended up on an unmarked road.
They say they were immediately surrounded by border agents, arrested and taken to a detention facility near the border.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman says the family’s vehicle was observed slowly crossing a ditch on the border and then proceeding on Boundary Road on the U.S. side.
Border agents stopped the vehicle and took four adults and three children into custody.
CBP reports two of the adults had previously been denied entry into the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement took custody of the Connors and their children and they claim they’ve been mistreated at a family detention center in Pennsylvania since their arrest.
ICE denies that charge and says the facility provides recreation, education and medical services to detainees.
Their lawyer says the family has been told they will be deported.
ICE says it takes about two weeks to process an expedited removal to the U.K.